


The Path of the Firstborn

by SushiWestern



Series: If You Have Ghosts [1]
Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Brief Ghoul neglect, Character Death, Drama, Ghoul summoning, Ghouls are not human, Multi, Self-Destructive Behavior, Sexual Themes, Special as Nihil's Ghoul, Special has no element, Suicidal Thoughts, Threesome - M/M/M, Violence, headcanons, well sorta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-04 13:34:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18605572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SushiWestern/pseuds/SushiWestern
Summary: The tragic story on how Special was the first Ghoul ever summoned and how he became the spokesghoul of the Unholy Church.





	1. The first summoning

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank you my friend ghostsxghoul on Tumblr for inspiring me to write this fic.  
> And many, many thanks to copias_gloves for beta-reading!!!

Many spoke of the Unholy Church with fear in their voices, as if its presence would bring the world to its end, to its destruction. Of course, those were words of plain ignorance, nonsense spoken by worshippers of brain-washing ideology, whose threats always fell on deaf ears. The Unholy Church had been on Earth for centuries and it was getting ready for the new designation. Sister Imperator, one of the clergy higher-ups, if not the most powerful woman in the whole organization, succeeded in her mission to find the next Papa in line and prepared him to take over the title. And so Papa Emeritus Zero, also known as Papa Nihil, became the head of the Unholy Church.

It was around that time when the Ghost project was under development, a project that would take down churches, recruit powerful individuals and infiltrate the highest positions of society. However, the whole project was still a work in progress, a rough sketch of what it would be in the future. The leader of the project would need followers that would convince the audience to join them, and the Unholy Church had the perfect plan: to summon Ghouls.

The clergy had their eyes on those creatures for a while now. They conducted an extensive research on them, documenting them in books and scriptures, and learned how to summon them: demonic spirits within a human vessel that would act as servants. Despite the efforts, though, nobody ever succeeded in summoning one. The soul had to be tied to its master by a blood oath and now, the Church had a “master”.

Within the walls of the abbey, beyond the catacombs underground, there was a room with a large wooden door. Dim lights flickered on the stone walls and the arches on the ceiling, filling the room with an aura of eeriness and discomfort.  Figures wearing hooded cassocks stood around a stone, circular altar in the middle of the Summoning Room, holding altar candles and keeping their heads lowered. On top of the altar, there was a human skeleton of an old sacrifice lying on a summoning circle; standing next to it, Sister Imperator and Papa Nihil were getting ready. She held up his hand and sliced his palm with a knife, allowing the drops of blood to fall on the circle and the skeleton so his soul would be tied to the Ghoul.

Sister Imperator closed her eyes and began chanting in Latin, the fellow clergy members following almost instantly. It was like a mantra that went on and on until the circle caught fire and emanated red smoke that quickly filled the room. Smoke, fire and brimstone spewed out of the circle, making everyone back up a few steps. Once the smoke dissipated and the flames died down, Sister Imperator approached the altar again to see if her efforts were paying off.

Sitting in a puddle of black goo and bone dust, there was a small anthropomorphic creature. He had the constitution of a skeleton, pitch black skin, tiny horns and mint green eyes. The Ghoul kit twitched a few times and rolled on his side, showing the small pair of webbed wings and his short tail with a heart-shaped spade. Those details were the first things Imperator noticed when she approached it. Ghouls were always tied to one of the five elements and they could tell which type it was because of the tail and eye color, however, the heart-shaped spade never appeared in the books nor in the scriptures. And as far as she knew, no Ghoul had wings or mint-green eyes.

“Papa, can you come here for a second?” she asked her companion, who hurriedly approached the altar.

Imperator was frowning at the Ghoul, but Nihil could see the concern in her face. She was a confident witch, one of a kind, and it was comprehensible that she was upset about the results. But Nihil wasn’t mad, in fact, he couldn’t be more proud of her: she managed to successfully summon a Ghoul, something that many have attempted before and failed. He rested one hand on her shoulder as he widened his eyes to take a better look on the kit.

“He has wings and a heart-shaped tail…” Nihil said to himself before turning to the Sister, “If it is not in the books, could that mean that this Ghoul has no element?”

“Well… if it’s the case, he’s completely useless to us” Imperator replied, giving him a stern look, “At least a Ghoul of each of the five elements should be present in order to carry on the project”.

“Will you kill him, Sister?”

“I’m not sure if this is a Ghoul at all. Let time decide what we should do with him”.

While the two clergy higher-ups were talking, the kit opened his eyes wide and gasped for air, filling his lungs with life only to let it out as the most horrifying cry humankind had ever heard. The Siblings of Sin in the room covered their ears and glanced at the creature with fear. “This is an abomination, Papa!” some exclaimed, “We can’t tolerate failure!” But Nihil wasn’t going to give up. He approached the crying kit and picked it up, so Imperator could hold him.

“I know this wasn’t what you expected, but you can’t throw your efforts down the drain just like that” he muttered, his mismatched eyes still on the creature. “He’s the Firstborn”.

She stared at the Ghoul for a while, trying to make sense of the events. Nihil was right: even if the kit didn’t meet any requirements on the scriptures, he was still the first Ghoul the church had ever summoned. She wiped his tears from his pitch black face and held him up in the air, so all the Siblings of Sin could take a better look at the creature.

“The summoning was a success” she announced, “From now on, Ghouls will serve this church as a direct connection to the Dark Lord. Before your eyes, I present you the Firstborn”.

Days passed by and the Unholy Church slowly realized that there was a lack of information about Ghoul kits in their archives. The Firstborn cried and cried, his screams echoing through the abbey halls, driving the Siblings of Sin into insanity due to the lack of sleep. Imperator had him locked in a cell down the catacombs and left him a bowl of water and meal leftovers. However, the Firstborn didn’t seem to touch the food.

Nihil walked down the stairs leading to the catacombs, the insufferable screaming becoming louder as he approached the Firstborn’s cell. He could feel his heart shattering into pieces when he saw the scene: his Ghoul was at the verge of starvation, lying down on his own waste and looking sick. The Anti-Pope glanced around and picked up a discarded robe, carrying it inside the cell and using it to swaddle the kit. He needed to get the creature out of there. The Church must have thought that Ghouls were like animals, which stood on all fours as soon as they were born just to look for food. How wrong they had been.

He rushed to his own chambers, to the bathroom, and turned on the tap of his sink. Once it was filled with warm water, Nihil tossed the robe in the trash and washed the kit, careful not to hurt him. He noticed some minor injuries on his skin, probably due to the summoning, his wings were folded and that his eyes were tightly shut; he made sure to properly clean those too. By the time Nihil finished drying him off, the Firstborn had stopped crying and had been staring at him in awe, his mint green eyes glowing in the dull lights from the chamber. The Anti-Pope smiled at him, secured him tight on his arms and brought him down to the kitchen to look for food.

The Siblings of Sin still looked at the creature with fear, but they were happy to help their leader to prepare something that the toothless small Ghoul could enjoy. Eventually, some of them dared to try and feed him, always watching out for his tiny claws that took a liking for digging into human fingers. He was even brought a herbal remedy that could help with his sickness. Nihil couldn’t feel more proud of his followers, overcoming their fears, adventuring into the unknown like he did and working together to help the Ghoul feel at home.

When he was full, the Firstborn was brought back to the Anti-Pope’s chambers and put to rest on his bed. Nihil’s hand brushed against the kit’s forehead and he smiled when he felt that his fever was slowly decreasing. Taking care of the creature wasn’t easy, he himself didn’t feel ready for it, but the Ghoul was tied to him by a blood oath. He was his responsibility, after all. But the more time he spent with him, he realized that he was more human than he thought.

“Don’t worry, little one, I won’t let anything bad happen to you again” he whispered, stroking the sleeping kit’s cheek before going back to his desk.

 

 

* * *

 

The first Summoning Day that had happened in years was about to start and it was an event that couldn’t be missed. Papa Nihil was retiring and his eldest son, Papa Emeritus the First, would take the lead of the Unholy Church, as well as carrying on with the Ghost project. The Firstborn was standing next to the old Papa and Sister Imperator, a nervous feeling pooling down in his guts. He couldn’t remember his own Summoning Day, but was excited to attend his very first one. Honestly speaking, he was feeling a bit lonely being the only Ghoul in the abbey and he was more than happy to finally have more of his kin hanging around.

Papa Emeritus the First had just received his skull paint and Imperator just finished slicing his palm open to finish the preparations of the summoning ritual. This time, though, five skeletons were resting on the altar. Imperator thought that last time’s mistake was due to the lack of vessels, so she got five vessels ready for five elemental Ghouls. She took a step forward and began chanting with Nihil’s oldest, soon followed by the remaining Siblings of Sin. The Firstborn clung to Old Papa’s cassock as soon as the red smoke poured out of the circle and filled the Summoning Room once again, followed by the gushes of fire and brimstone. He could see a dark orb inside each vessel’s ribcage that expanded and covered the whole skeleton in pitch dark skin, then compressing it until it was several times smaller, to a size of an infant. The young adult Ghoul found the process gruesome and felt nauseated, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the altar.

The summoning finished with five Ghoul kits resting on the altar that began to cry as soon as Sister Imperator and the First Emeritus approached them to check their elements. It was like they were trying to ward humans off them. It was then when the Firstborn took a step to the front and decided to interfere. Ignoring Imperator’s warnings about how dangerous it was for a Ghoul to enter a summoning circle soon after being used, he crouched down and picked up the first kit. He was a Quintessence Ghoul with a strange, branded mark on his chest resembling an Omega symbol that stopped crying as soon as he felt the Firstborn’s warmth. Holding him close to his chest, he picked another kit with his free arm. This one was a Fire Ghoul with a similar branded symbol on his chest, resembling the Alpha character. The non-elemental Ghoul held them close to his chest and turned around to face the rest of the clergy.

“Behold, Omega and Alpha” he announced.

“There’s no need to name them” Imperator interrupted him, “They are going to be Nameless Ghouls”.

The Firstborn lowered his head and handed them to her to examine before going back to calm the remaining three kits. The Sister motioned her hand to both Nihil and his son to approach her, blue eyes still staring at the young adult Ghoul who was tending to his kin. Father and son noticed it too. It was like the kits were more accepting of the Firstborn to handle them rather than humans, like some sort of primal instinct.

“I think it would be the best for all of us if the Firstborn took care of them while they are infants” the First Emeritus suggested, soon meeting Imperator’s frown.

“It is your responsibility to raise and tame them, Papa” she replied, a hint of bitterness in her tone, “This is a test to see if you are worthy of your title”.

“Enough of that, Sister” Nihil cut their argument short, “they clearly prefer the Firstborn over any of us, so he’s going to assist my son during the first weeks. Any objections?”

Imperator opened her mouth to disagree, but she was interrupted by the young adult Ghoul, who just finished swaddling the kits in towels to keep them warm and handing them to the Siblings of Sin. His glowing mint green eyes had a hint of sadness and confusion in them as he took Omega and Alpha from her arms to take care of them like he did with the rest.

“I have a question” he began speaking, his voice slightly shaky from nervousness as he put the last two Ghouls on the arms of another clergy member, “None of them have wings or a heart-shaped spade on their tails. Did something go wrong?”

Imperator crossed her arms and glared at him. She could have worded her reply better, but she had always been a bit resentful towards the Firstborn. He was a constant reminder of her error and even if the years passed by, it was still there, like a thorn jabbing at her self-esteem.

“You went wrong” her tone was stern, almost annoyed, “These are the Ghouls we were expecting for the Ghost project. They should have been the Firstborns instead of you. You were an oddity, a mistake”.

The young adult Ghoul felt like his heart was shattered to pieces, like a knife just stabbed his chest. He couldn’t find the words to reply back as his eyes filled with tears and lowered his head. That condemned witch… All those years and still she hadn’t forgiven him for something he couldn’t control. He balled up his fists and stormed out of the Summoning Room, running towards the highest tower of the abbey. He closed the door of his chamber behind him and tossed his cassock on the floor, his eyes staring at the window that led to a small balcony. If nobody wanted him there, he could just fly away. He had wings, after all.

He opened the window and took a few steps back to run up to the balcony and take off, but he realized too late that his wings weren’t spreading out. The non-elemental Ghoul fell face-first against the stone railing of the balcony and curled up on the floor, cursing at himself, cursing at Imperator, cursing at the Dark Lord for allowing him to be summoned. Why would he have wings if they didn’t work? Why was he still in the abbey if he wasn’t useful? Why did he have to endure all the pressure the Church put on him if his life was pointless, anyway?

The Firstborn got up and spat a bit of blood before sitting on the railing, staring at the landscape. The moon was full and the lights of the town flickered in the horizon. Down below, the yard was empty. It was then when the idea of jumping off seemed tempting. Nobody would miss him anyways. As he was leaning forward, he felt two hands holding his arms and pulling him back to the balcony. Nihil was standing there with a worried look on his face.

“Come inside, you’re bleeding” he ordered before turning his back on him. The Firstborn soon followed.

The Ghoul sat down on his bed and hissed as the Old Papa pressed the cotton ball against his jaw to clean the scraped skin. He felt miserable and useless and soon he found himself at the verge of tears again. He had to fight back the urge to burst out crying, to seek comfort on the man who raised him. He tried to convince himself not to. He wasn’t a hopeless kit anymore and Nihil wasn’t even his parent, he was his boss who he should serve and protect like he had been taught his entire life.

“What were you doing?” the former Papa asked as calmly as he could, his skinny hand stroking the Firstborn’s cheek to ease him, “You worried me for a second out there”.

“Why would you worry about me?” the Ghoul snarled, turning his head away from the touch and moving his hands frantically as he ranted, “I get it, the Firstborn is a mistake. I disappointed the entire church because of it but, guess what? I didn’t ask to be summoned!”

Nihil grabbed his wrists to stop him. “You didn’t disappoint me” he explained, “Don’t listen to Imperator. He got a little too confident on her skills and she didn’t expect the results she obtained. And what?”

“She summoned a freak and she hates me for it!”

The Firstborn lied down on the bed, resting his head on his caretaker’s lap. Nihil began to stroke his cheek, brushing the tears from his eyes with caution. It broke his heart to see the Ghoul he cared for like that.

“She doesn’t hate you. It’s just that she wasn’t expecting _you_ ” he explained, his arm reaching out for the Firstborn’s discarded cassock and covering him with it before he got cold, “I remember your Summoning Day like it was yesterday. She was against killing you, so I guess that deep down, she does care about you”.

“Are you sure?” the non-elemental Ghoul looked up to him.

“As sure as hellfire. You’re not a freak, you’re just special”.

The Ghoul lifted his head to look at the Old Papa with his shiny, mint green eyes. Something in his reply caught his attention and he gave his cassock a tug to get his attention.

“Can you please call me that from now on? Can I be Special?”

“Of course, Special” Nihil smiled at him and pulled him up to hold him. “And don’t worry, I won’t let anything bad happen to you ever again”.

 


	2. The Era of The First Emeritus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, things get complicated.  
> Thanks again to copias-gloves for proofreading!!

The Ghouls were harder to raise than anybody could have expected. Of course, Imperator’s research had shed some light on things like teaching them how to use their elemental powers properly or how to tame them to follow the human they were tied to, but mentioned nothing about taking proper care about them. It was all a matter of trial and error until they reached adulthood —sooner than expected, one should add. Ghouls didn’t age like humans, in fact, they could probably outlive them if they had a healthy lifestyle. The Ghost project was ready to be launched: they would lure followers to join the cause by posing as a music band. Special had been in charge of writing the songs; such vivid imagination had to be put into use. However, the Firstborn wasn’t always focused on his task. 

As he saw the First Emeritus’s Ghouls grow up, he couldn’t help but realize that all those little details he noticed, the results of the ‘trial and error’ the Papa obtained after experiencing Ghoul caretaking, were missing from Imperator’s research. Or maybe she wrote them down and said nothing about it, who could have known? That woman was completely unreadable sometimes. Special spent hours thinking about the famous research. He knew it should be stored someplace in the library, but he couldn’t be sure if he didn’t search for it himself.

The library stood in the right wing of the residential building in the abbey. The large bookshelves towered around him, some even touching at the ceiling, stocked with books about supernatural themes, witchcraft and the unknown, as well as some novels and dramatic plays for the leisure of the clergy members. Special would have loved to search the place throughout, but his wings didn’t work and he couldn’t reach the higher shelves with such unstable wooden ladders. Plus, Imperator said it would be better to hide those ‘hideous appendages’ from the other Ghouls, as she described.  _ You could be ridiculed because of them _ , she warned him once, so Special had to keep them painfully bound against his back with ropes.

He spent way too much time in there, frustration soon taking over until he noticed that there was a secluded area he didn’t explore yet. The place had an eerie dark aura around it and it was completely fenced to ward off curious humans.  _ It must be here _ , Special thought while holding onto the fence bars and attempting to climb on them. There was no use. The gate had a lock and he tried to pick it with his claws, but he didn’t succeed at that either. How was he supposed to get inside? His train of thought stopped when he heard a noise, barefoot steps against the cold stone floor. Special turned around to meet Omega, the Ghoul who he was closest to since his summoning.

“What are you doing here, Spesh? Something illegal?” Omega’s glowing red eyes scanned over the older Ghoul. He knew his friend wasn’t supposed to be there, but he didn’t feel like tormenting him over it. In fact, now that he met him in that place, he was curious.

“What? No!” Special was flustered, waving his hands around as he spoke, “I was trying to find the Church’s research on Ghouls, that’s it!”

“And you were trying to get past the fence into the forbidden area?”

“Yes”.

 

 

The Quintessence Ghoul waved his hand at him to move over as he examined the place beyond the fence. His eyes fixated in one spot and he took a few steps back as he formed a square with both his thumbs and index fingers shaped like an L, opening a portal inside the forbidden archives. He did the same right in front of him and Special noticed that he could see themselves inside of the portal, but from the spot behind the fence. He always thought that Quintessence Ghouls were fascinating creatures, since they were able to bend space by their will, and it was always surprising to see Omega using his powers. The younger Ghoul turned to his friend and smiled, showing two rows of sharp teeth in the void that was his face, and offered him his hand.

“Trust me, we’re going to be fine”.

Special took it reluctantly with his eyes shut tightly, and followed him through the portal. It was a strange sensation, like a slight shock that went through the Ghoul’s body, but when he opened his eyes again, he could see that they were, in fact, behind the fence. The archives were dusty, as if they hadn’t been touched in a long time, and Special’s eyes rushed over the spines, reading the titles. Alchemy, arcana, books of spells… and finally, Imperator’s Insight about Ghouls. When his hand was approaching one of the books to pick it up, a voice could be heard echoing inside the library’s walls. The two Ghouls hid behind a bookshelf.

“Is anybody here?”

“What do we do? Should we answer?” Omega asked Special, but the older Ghoul shushed him. They could get in trouble if they were discovered.

The footsteps sounded like a barefoot pitter-patter that stopped by the fence. It was a Ghoul, and it seemed to have noticed the portals the Quintessence Ghoul had opened moments before.

“Omega? Dude, it’s Alpha! Where are you?”

_ Oh sweet Satan, it’s only him _ . The two Ghouls walked out of their hiding spot and approached the fence with guilt all over their faces. Alpha was a bit of a whistleblower and he could easily tell on them to the clergy higher-ups. However, the Fire Ghoul tilted his head and his orange eyes showed a hint of confusion.

“What were you doing here? Aren’t the archives supposed to be forbidden?” Alpha asked.

“We were looking for Imperator’s research on Ghouls and Special found it! Do you want to take a look?” the Quintessence Ghoul replied, pointing his head towards the portals.

The Fire Ghoul crossed the entrance and appeared behind the fence with them. Special picked one of the books and carefully skimmed through the pages, showing them the sketches and scribblings. The younger Ghouls stared at them with confusion, trying their best to figure out what were those strange symbols filling up entire pages. It was then when Special realized something.

“You don’t know how to read, don’t you?”

“Not human languages” Alpha replied. He thought that music sheets were easier than those. “You do?”

“That was the first thing Papa Nihil ever taught me, how to read, speak and write” the Firstborn shrugged and put the book back in its place, “I can teach you, if you want”.

“That would be cool” Omega replied, his eyes meeting Alpha’s, “You can stop by my room at bedtime, if it’s alright with you. We’ll be waiting there for you”.

Special nodded and decided that they had enough of sticking their noses in Imperator’s research. Omega closed the portal behind them and, before exiting the library, the older Ghoul picked up one of the books from the leisure shelf. He looked at the cover: Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales. It could be a good start. The three of them walked down the hall and Special remained silent while his two friends discussed their little adventure at the archives. He sure felt less lonely when hanging around them, they were more extroverted than the rest of the band. Earth and Air were too intimidating and conversations with Water were quite awkward for him, so he tried to avoid them at all costs.

Standing in front of the rehearsals room was the First Emeritus, waiting for Omega and Alpha to show up. They waved Special goodbye and closed the door behind them, leaving him there with a feeling of loneliness in his gut. But he knew what to do. Every time he felt like that, he visited Nihil in his office and they would just stay there, chatting about mundane things or gossiping about fellow clergy members. Nihil’s office was like a tiny, cozier version of the library, with large bookshelves almost brushing to the high ceiling and quite a lot of paintings over the wooden walls: Nihil himself, his three sons and a very much younger Imperator. It gave him vibes of a dean’s office in one of those old college buildings. The former Anti-Pope was sitting in front of a bunch of papers, typing words in his old-fashioned typewriter because everybody gave up on teaching him how to use a computer, and sighing every five seconds: he was getting frustrated.

“Do you have a moment, Papa?” Special asked, holding his hands behind his back and swaying on his feet.

“Oh, Spesh. I would love to chat but as you can see, I am pretty busy today” Nihil replied.

“What is it? I can help you if you want”.

“It’s the First’s tour plan. You’re good at computers and at organizing, can you lend a hand to an old man?”

The Firstborn walked over his caretaker’s desk to take a look at the tour paperwork. He would need someplace to be alone and focus. Nihil stood up and asked him to follow, leading him to the door at the end of the office halls. It was a study, similar to Nihil’s, but almost unused. The furniture was still covered in old, dusty white bed sheets, but it would be the perfect place for Special to stay. After removing all the bed sheets and making himself at home, the Firstborn sat down on the chair, adjusted it to his height and set the paperwork on the table. He also made sure to set up Nihil’s discarded computer, he was sure he wouldn’t use it anymore so it was now in his possession. Special didn’t have an element, but he seemed to be more intelligent than his fellow Ghouls. He spoke eloquently, he learned skills pretty fast, he could solve mathematical problems effortlessly and was way more disciplined than the rest: it was like he was almost human.

By the time Special finished the tour planning, it was almost bedtime. Right, he promised he would teach Alpha and Omega how to read. He picked up the book he borrowed hours before and closed the office door behind him, soon making his way into the band members’ quarters. The ghouls had a recreation room, it was important for them to have one in order to decrease their stress levels, that worked as a small apartment. It had stone flooring and walls, a pair of couches and a cozy fireplace, as well as a dining table with a few magazines on it. There were to stained glass windows on the walls, adorned with black velvet curtains, and at the right side, there was a stone stairwell that lead to the Ghouls’ bedrooms. Special stopped in front of the one with the Quintessence alchemical symbol plaque and knocked two times before letting himself in.

Surprisingly, Omega’s room was pretty tidy. The older Ghoul noticed the same curtains as the rec room and a ridiculous amount of pillows resting on the bed, where Omega and Alpha sat and chatted about their rehearsals. They made a spot between them for Special to sit down and they both huddled under the blankets, glowing eyes staring at him.

“I thought you wouldn’t come!” Alpha said, sitting up a bit to take a better look at the book. “What is that?”

“The Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales. It’s a good way to start” Special replied, opening it to the first page. As he read out loud, both Omega and Alpha were following along the letters, trying their best to form words and sentences in their minds. They would ask him questions now and then, resting their heads on his shoulders until they felt themselves drifting off to sleep. Special finished the first story and closed the book, gently removing himself from between the two Ghouls to head back to his own chambers. He needed some rest.

 

The Firstborn woke up at dawn: he had a busy day. As soon as he got dressed, he went to his office to finish printing out the tour planning to show Nihil. He was proud of himself, of his productivity, and hoped he would get some praise for working so hard. But his energy was completely depleted when he walked into Nihil’s office and saw Sister Imperator sitting in front of the desk. He couldn’t make out what they were saying before he walked in, but she stopped talking as soon as she saw him enter.

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to interrupt, but I finished the tour planning as you asked” Special placed the bunch of papers on Nihil’s desk, eyeing Imperator from over his shoulder. He wondered how she felt, now that she saw that her ‘mistake’ was being useful to the Church.  _ You better swallow your own words, witch _ , he thought.

“That is some impressive work, Special” the old Papa smiled at him, his wrinkled hand brushing at his forearm as a sign of praise. “Did you see, Sister? I think we got ourselves a tour manager”

“What does he know about tour managing?” she asked, frowning at the Ghoul. He couldn’t stand it when she talked about him like that in front of others.

“More than you do, with all due respect. I cleaned the rough draft, made the necessary phone calls, appointed the needed professionals… and if it concerns you: no, I didn’t go past the budget limit”.

Imperator didn’t want to show it, but she was actually impressed. She had to admit that, even if he was an odd Ghoul, Nihil raised him well. His productivity was remarkable, and his manners and speech were one of a kind. She pulled out a smile and stood on her feet, her eyes on the Ghoul.

“Would you like to be the Church’s spokesman? Or spokesghoul, in that case” she asked, to which Special replied with a shrug. “If you can handle the pressure, then so be it”.

Of course Special could handle the pressure, and he made sure Imperator was aware of it. She moved towards the office’s exit, waving her hand at the Ghoul to follow her. During their walk towards the rehearsals room, Special didn’t make eye contact with her. Her eyes felt like daggers, always ready to stab him right on the spot and throw him to the mud afterwards, belittling him, judging him. Imperator stopped in front of the door and stared directly into his mint green eyes.

“This is going to be a test for you” she explained, “If you can prove that you can do this job, it’s yours forever. otherwise, we’ll look for a replacement”.

“I’m sure I can handle the pressure, Sister” Special replied with a frown.

“Speaking in public is hard. Make sure not to make a fool of us”.

And there she was again. She opened the door and walked in first, leaving him behind. He hated her with a passion since the day he was summoned and every comment, every joke she made about him just fueled his disgust towards her. And the way she was just introducing him to The First and the rest of the Ghouls as their new tour manager and spokesghoul… he preferred not to comment on it.  _ He will handle the dirty work _ , she said,  _ well, if he can _ . Special decided not to overthink it and gathered the whole band to explain to them the tour details. He explained that he would also handle interviews, and also admitted openly that he’s never spoken in public before.

“Well, if you are not sure, you can take Alpha and Omega with you” the First eyed at his favourite Ghouls, who nodded in agreement. “Is it fine with you?”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to manage. Thank you for the offer, Papa”. 

“And don’t let Imperator’s words get to you. She can be intimidating, but I’m sure that, deep down, she has faith on you. I do”.

That was everything Special needed to hear. Now he truly felt that he was part of the band, of the family. He wouldn’t have to sit back in the abbey and wait for them to come back like he always imagined. They did quite a few tours together and Special got the opportunity to get closer to the other band members during the long hours they spent together in the tour bus. He found out that Earth had fidgety hands and wouldn’t stop tapping his fingers on surface, improvising rhythms every now and then, and that Air was a mute, intimidating giant but also a good listener. He didn’t speak much with Water during the last tour, though, as he would always head directly to his bunk bed and close the curtains. Special had never seen him like that and he started to get worried.

As soon as the bus arrived back at the abbey and the group walked out of it, Water collapsed on the floor. It was always a reason to panic if a Ghoul showed symptoms of illness because nobody knew how to react. Usually, they just brought the Ghoul to the infirmary and kept it in an isolated room until it felt better. The Siblings of Sin in charge examined the Ghoul and gave the First and the rest of the band the bad news: Water was dying. His fellow Ghouls didn’t know how to respond at first, dropping their shoulders in denial, but Special had no time to waste with feelings. He had to head back to the archives with Omega and gather as many books and folders of Imperator’s research as he could and, once they did, they met up with Alpha in Special’s office. 

He was glad he kept teaching them how to read during tours too, they would be able to help him find what was going on with their bandmate. Every now and then, they would leave him alone to check on Water, only to come back a few minutes later. Alpha told them that there was nothing they could do, the illness was found out at a late stage, so they didn’t have much time left.

“Hold on a second here” Special’s eyes focus on a paragraph in one of the books. “It says here that Ghouls are used to some living conditions in Hell that are impossible to achieve in Earth. They need a ‘sterile’ environment that is achieved by a spell. Otherwise, a Ghoul with an exposed face is more likely to fall ill from pollution and die”.

“Do you think that we can save him by casting that spell?” Omega asked.

“I don’t know, but what I do know is somebody who can cast this spell” Special replied with a frown.

He didn’t want to do this, but it was the only solution. He stopped in front of Sister Imperator’s office and knocked impatiently before letting himself in. She sat behind her desk, taking a sip from her coffee as she raised an eyebrow at him and asked what he wanted.

“I need you to cast the sterilizing spell on Water right now or he will die!” Special implored, dropping to his knees. Maybe she will consider helping him if he begged for it?

“How do you know about the spell, Firstborn?” she set the mug on her table and frowned at him, “Have you been looking at my research in the archives!? That area is forbidden for a reason!”

“I don’t have time for an argument. Please, Sister, save him!” the Ghoul seemed desperate and Imperator noticed it.

She relaxed her frown and approached him, helping him back up to his feet. Deep down, she understood him: he saw his fellow Ghoul grow up and even if they didn’t talk much, Water still meant a lot to him. She may be hard on him sometimes, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care about him. She let him live, after all. As Imperator offered the Ghoul a seat and explained that she couldn’t do anything because Water was already way too ill to be saved, Nihil showed up at the door followed by the First Emeritus: Water had just passed away. Special could feel his heart missing a beat and stood right back up, rushing to the infirmary only to discover that his fellow Ghoul was now just a skeleton wearing a black cassock. The whole gaggle surrounded him and lowered their heads in respect as the clergy higher-ups stood behind.

“Sister, the demon soul is tied to its vessel, isn’t it?” the First asked her, “we still have the vessel, we could try to get Water back by resummoning him”.

“I don’t know if it will come out as you think, Papa” she replied, holding her hands on her front, “I will just summon another Water”.

“I have no time to raise a new Water!” he snarled at her, “Plus, we won’t know if it works until we try it!”

Imperator sighed and ordered the Siblings of Sin from the infirmary to help him carry Water’s vessel to the summoning room. She tried the same spell as the last time, but he didn’t use the First’s blood that time: she just chanted the formula all over again until red smoke blurted out from the altar. Just like the last time. To everyone’s surprise, the skeleton didn’t break down to become a kit’s, in fact, it remained exactly the same as the demon soul took it over.  _ It must be because it made it to adulthood, so it resumes its life as it was _ , Special thought. Water gasped for air and sat up on the altar, his glowing blue eyes moving from one side to another in confusion.

“Who are you?” Water asked, staring at the Ghouls and at the clergy higher-ups. He couldn’t remember anything before his demise and it would be a lot of work to teach him all the songs all over again, but at least the First was right. 

Imperator explained the causes behind Water’s illness to them and that she casted the sterilizing spell on both the abbey and the tour bus to make them habitable for Ghouls, but she didn’t realize that they were exposed to hazards while performing in venues. The First suggested giving them masks under the effects of the spell, so they can survive on Earth as long as they are wearing it. Papa Emeritus the First’s Ghouls, as well as himself, got new outfits. However, Special was the only one not to have a mask. Was Imperator trying to sabotage him again?

“No, it’s just that I don’t have any more masks” the Sister told him, “You will stay in the abbey this time. You can’t get sick and die, Nihil would be devastated and it’s better to be safe than sorry, isn’t it?”


	3. The Era of the Second Emeritus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here I go with another chapter! Please, check the tags on the fic before reading.  
> Thanks again to copias-gloves for proofreading!!

Special was unaware of the announcement the First Emeritus made during the last part of his tour, and so were the rest of the Unholy Church. He was so focused on his work that he almost completely forgot about the Papa and his Ghouls, and he didn’t realize how important the Black Mass he was attending to was until the First locked his gaze at the second row of pews, just where the Ghoul was sitting. The bald man next to him, Nihil’s second eldest son, rose from his seat and made his way to the altar.

“I am Papa Emeritus the Second. From now on, I will be the leader of the Ghost project”.

His words were powerful, filled to the brim with confidence with subtle hints of arrogance. The band Ghouls, sitting in the first row, glanced to each other. Now sporting a black version of their uniforms and masks, they straightened them up as they rose from their pews and approached their new church leader. The Siblings of Sin soon walked out of the building and the Second, his Ghouls and Special, as well as Imperator and Nihil were left alone. The woman gestured Special to approach her: they needed to talk.

“A new leader is something serious, people will sure talk about this” she sounded so confident, it was almost scary, “You’re going to drown in interviews”.

Special was used to them by now, in fact, he didn’t need Alpha or Omega anymore, but there was something about Imperator that was off. She had to be the mastermind behind the abdication. Papa Nihil never took a decision on his own, it was always her who persuaded him: she’s been doing the same thing their whole lives. The elder Ghoul frowned behind his brand new mask and held up a hand to speak.

“I apologize for interrupting, Sister, but why did the First abdicate?”

It wasn’t her who answered. The Second approached them and gave them one of his arrogant looks.

“I will answer your question, Ghoul” he added a disrespectful tone to the last word, “The audience needs somebody with charisma that enjoys life. They want the pure class that my older brother lacks. Remember those words, kid: you’ll be saying that a lot in the interviews”.

The Firstborn had never talked to the Second Emeritus before, but after the first impression, ‘pure class’ and ‘charisma’ weren’t words that he would use to describe him. He still had doubts about all of these new interviews and he would love to ask the higher-ups for the kind of answers they would like him to give, but the Second Papa had just dismissed them and he was left alone with him and his Ghouls. They all kneeled down to show their loyalty, not daring to look him in the eye. Special still stood on his place: he wasn’t a band Ghoul, he didn’t need to prove anything to anyone.

“First of all, I am not like my brother” the Second began to talk, “I didn’t raise you, this is true, but I’m sure as hell you will obey me blindly, understood?”

The band Ghouls began looking at each other with confusion, only to earn a scolding from their leader demanding to look at him instead. Special saw that he clearly wasn’t the same when the higher-ups weren’t present. Everything about him was starting to sound irritable: his tone, his mannerisms, the way he made the Ghouls kneel to him… What a miserable, wounded and bitter man he was.

The Second abandoned the building, soon followed by his Ghouls, and made his way to the backyard to keep an eye on the Third, Nihil’s youngest. Out of the three Emeritus, he, and more specifically his younger brother, were the most popular ones. The Third had a pretty face and was pretty suave when he talked, and they heard that the Second was legendary in bed, a true ladies man. As soon as they stepped out, a bunch of Siblings of Sin soon surrounded the new leader, bedazzled by his charms, and the Ghouls were left behind. It would be the best if they stayed behind and sat on the grass. Alpha was the first to speak.

“Does anybody else miss the First?”

“I think we all do” Omega replied, “but if the higher-ups made him abdicate, it was for a sensible reason. Still, the Second is our leader now. We should treat him as such”.

Special decided to stay out of the conversation and he entertained himself watching the rest of the band Ghouls. Water was too busy playing with a fountain and Earth was rolling on the grass like a sunbathing house pet and trying to convince Air to join him, who was just standing next to him with his usual menacing aura. He came back to reality when Omega shook his arm.

“What do you think of him, Spesh? Do you see potential?”

“You know what?” Special turned to them, “Honestly speaking, I think he is a narcissist and an asshole”.

Omega and Alpha stopped talking all of a sudden and stared at him with fear in their eyes. The Second Emeritus was standing behind them, his arms folded and giving them a look of disapproval. When the elder Ghoul turned and realized what was going on, he became tense and began rambling on how he was just kidding, waving his hands around to emphasize his point, but to the Second, it was all utter bullshit. He gestured at Special to follow him back inside the Abbey and the Special obliged: he didn’t want to rile him up even more. He walked behind him in silence, the anxious feeling inside his chest growing bigger until the Second Emeritus stopped in front of the Ghoul’s office and turned around to face him.

“If Father and Sister Imperator knew that you’ve been insulting your boss behind his back, they would likely sign up for your imminent expulsion” he explained, his gloved hand resting on the Ghoul’s shoulder. Special started to feel tense.

“I don’t want that”.

“I know, and neither do I. For your information, I’m not as much of an asshole as you think” the Second’s grip on the shoulder got tighter, “But I’m ready to make a deal. You work hard to fulfill my requests and I don’t tell them a single word. It’s fair, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so, Papa”.

“So… that’s it” the Second stepped away from the door so the Ghoul could walk in first, “Oh, and one last petition: stay away from my Ghouls. You are an easy distraction for them”.

Special sat down on his uncomfortable desk chair and typed down all of the Second’s plans to get followers during his era as he listened to him come up with more and more ideas. The list was so large he thought it would never end and as soon as the Papa left the office, the Ghoul threw his arms and head over the desk. The era didn’t even start and he was already feeling the pressure and the stress on his shoulders. And the worst of it all is that he was banned from hanging out with Omega and Alpha because he was a ‘distraction’ to them.

Special felt his mint green eyes fill up with tears as he thought about it. He would have to spend days in almost complete isolation, heeding every single one of the Second’s orders without complaining or he would be sent back to Hell. And he felt guilty for wasting his time being oversensitive about it, he should have been working non stop as soon as the Second walked out of the office. He balled up his fists and started sobbing silently, hoping nobody would walk in and see him in that state. In that moment, Special hated both the Second Emeritus and himself.

 

Two days had passed since the meeting with the Second in the office and Special managed to go through a rather large part of his list. He had been working without a single pause to eat or sleep and he was at the verge of burning out and collapse on his desk. Special had been staring at his computer screen for a solid minute now, his hands over the keyboard and unable to type another word. A knock on the door brought him back from his stress-induced trance and saw Omega and Alpha walking in with a food tray. What are they doing here, anyways?, he thought.

“You haven’t showed up for our meals” Omega stated, setting down the tray on the desk and approaching him to take his chin and make him look up, “Are you getting any sleep?”

“I can’t talk with you. The Second’s orders” Special shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizziness, “Please, leave. I don’t want to distract you”.

“Do you mean that he banned you from speaking to us? But we are your friends, Spesh” Alpha took a seat on the couch and crossed his legs, “We are worried”.

“That’s why we brought you food. We care for you” Omega’s words seemed sincere, and his thumb gently brushing Special’s chin under the mask made him realized how touch-starved he was, “Please, eat up and get some rest”.

“I can’t” Special pulled his face away, “Everytime I close my eyes, I can see the Second telling Papa Nihil and Imperator that I’ve been slacking off and that I said terrible things about him”.

The two younger Ghouls stared at each other in thought. Alpha rose from the couch and leaned against the desk to save Special’s progress in the computer and shut it down. Omega held the elder Ghoul’s hands and lead him to the couch to take a seat on it and pat the empty space beside him. Special lied down, his head resting against Omega’s lap and closed his eyes.

“Thank you both” he mumbled, letting out a deep sigh, “Just wake me up in ten minutes”.

Special woke up at evening and stared at the clock on the wall: he slept for four hours. Neither Alpha or Omega were in the office too, they must have left as soon as they saw his friend in deep slumber. The elder Ghoul rubbed his eyes with his hands and dragged his feet back to his desk, where the food tray remained untouched. As soon as he could focus on his work again, he began snacking on it now and then. Even if it was cold, it was still delicious.

The band Ghouls made sure he was taking breaks now and then: Water often joined Alpha and Omega to bring him food and chat with him, Earth always brought his home-brewed herbal tea to help him relax and Air kept him company. Special cherished the attention received, even from Air, who only sat down on the couch and read a book for hours until he patted his shoulder as his way to say goodbye. But being left alone meant he would be sulking again while staring at the screen, filled with the Second’s petitions that kept getting out of hand. _‘Phallos Mortuus’ Ritual Box Set_ . He rested his face against his desk. _Why did he have the need to release sexual toys?_ Omega and Alpha walked in the office and Special tried his best to hide the image of the ritual box by minimizing the picture, but it was too late: they had seen it.

“Are you serious? Did he _really_ ask you to release _that_!?” Omega bursted out laughing, “What an odd guy he is”.

“This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve come across in my entire life…” Special hid his face in his hands, “He’s doing that just to torture me”.

“Come on, I’m sure he’s only doing that as a joke” Alpha put a hand on the elder Ghoul’s shoulder, “It can’t be that bad, right?”

“ _It can’t be that bad_ , you say?” Special gritted his teeth and snarled, “He’s been doing that since the very beginning! I’m tired and anxious and I haven’t had a break in weeks!”

“Spesh, please, calm down” Omega interfered.

“Don’t tell me to calm the fuck down! Nobody in this forsaken church has stressed me so much as him!” the elder Ghoul rose from his seat and slammed his hands against the desk, “Now get the hell out of here, both of you! I’m not supposed to talk to you anyways!”

The younger Ghouls exchanged some looks. They had never seen their friend like that and they realized he may need some time alone to gather his thoughts. Before stepping out of the office, though, Omega stood by the doorframe.

“You know, we only wanted to help”.

Special watched him close the door behind him and slowly sat back down, taking in a deep breath. This was getting out of hand and he needed to take measures. All of this was because he feared the clergy higher-ups knowing about what he said about the Second Emeritus. He closed the office door behind him and stomped his way towards Nihil’s. The elder Papa was reunited with some clergy members and, when he saw the look in his Ghoul’s eyes, he dismissed them and offered him a seat. Special thanked him and began explaining everything that happened with the Second with all details and moving his hands to add a dramatic effect. Nihil was more understanding than he expected him to be.

“With all due respect, Papa, your son is truly an asshole”.

“I know”.

It truly felt good to let that out of his chest. Special could feel some weight lifting off his shoulders, but he still had plenty to do. Nihil rose from his seat and pulled him close into a gentle hug, his wrinkled hand brushing his back gently.

“Don’t push yourself too hard. I will speak with him” he said, lingering on the hug a bit longer and then releasing him, “You should forget about all of these and focus on spreading our message to the masses. That’s our top priority”.

 

The touring season started just fine, so did the interviews. Special, who was also appointed to drive the tour bus, kept calm and chose his words wisely, but he didn’t think twice before sharing his thoughts about the new Papa, often disguising them as jokes. The public needed a loveable leader, and the Second had everything they asked for. However, it didn’t take long until the Ghouls finally saw his true colors. He often got fans coming up to him and asking for the night of their lives with him. Of course, he accepted every single one of these requests and he would leave to party every now and then, have wild orgies in hotel rooms or bring the trophy of the night with him to the tour bus. All the band Ghouls were uncomfortable with it, but never dared to say a word out of fear.

One of those nights, Special was driving towards the city the next ritual was going to be hold. He was focused on the road, but he couldn’t help but eavesdrop on Alpha and Omega’s conversation, who were sitting in the kitchenette area of the bus. The elder Ghoul still hadn’t spoken to them in the means of having a deep conversation, he just answered their questions about being interviewed and avoided them as much as possible. He was pretty sure that he couldn’t avoid them forever. Omega sat down next to him, a cheerful tone in his voice.

“Hey, why don’t you take a break and hang out with us?”

“I can’t” Special replied, eyes still on the badly lit road, “I have to make it to the next city in time”.

They drove past a road sign of a rest stop close to them and the younger Ghoul seemed to notice it.

“It’s a sign from our Dark Lord telling you to stop this bus and enjoy yourself, don’t you think?”

“I _hate_ you”.

Special didn’t mean it, and he was glad that Omega took it as a joke. He entered the rest stop, parked the bus and turned off the engine. When he walked to the kitchenette area, he saw that the Ghouls found the Second’s beer stash in the tiny fridge and were offering him one. Special shook his head as he sat down in front of them.

“We’re not supposed to drink that. Imperator said that Ghouls have less alcohol tolerance than…”

“Do you see Imperator here?” Alpha asked, the unopened can of beer still on his clawed hands, “Drink up, buddy. You deserve it”.

Special took the can, cracked it open and took a sip, soon feeling guilt pooling down his stomach: he wasn’t supposed to sit down and relax, he had to drive the tour bus, he had to attend to his duties, but the younger Ghouls refused to listen. They were chatting enthusiastically about things he had missed completely because he had been busy the whole time, but he tried his best to listen and participate when he felt like it.

They had a second round of beers. It was then when Alpha lived up to his whistleblower reputation and began gossiping about the rest of the clergy, specifically about the rest of the band Ghouls. Among the usual juicy gossip, Special heard that both Water and Earth were taking off their masks way too much when outside the tour bus. That was a serious problem, but he decided not to intervene: they knew the consequences, they had to face them. Earth was also spending a lot of time alone with Air, locking themselves in one of their rooms to seek some intimacy.

“I bet they are fucking” Alpha concluded, making Special blush at the thought.

“How can you speak of them like that, pretending they are not here?”

“We haven’t seen them a lot after rituals, what else do you think they are doing? Solving puzzles? You’re so naive, Spesh”

The elder Ghoul preferred not to answer and just sipped his beer. Alpha and Omega were just starting their third round and Special could see that they were getting a bit handsy with each other. It was then when he realized that Earth and Air weren’t the only ones with an intimate relationship, it was something that never crossed his mind before. He was pretty sure that Ghouls weren’t capable of love nor have sexual desire. Or maybe they were and he was just too busy to realize. His face was burning in embarrassment when he heard Omega’s voice.

“You seem tense”.

“I spent too much time here with you, I should go back to the road as soon as…” Special was cut by the two band Ghouls sitting next to him and holding him down.

“You’ve been drinking, so no driving for you” Alpha told him, his voice coming out in a sing-song, “Come on, you deserve to forget about your duties and to get a bit pampered”.

Many things ran through Special’s mind: what will the Second Emeritus say if he saw them getting way too intimate? It was impossible, he was passed out in his bunk bed, probably drunk as well. His thoughts dissipated as he felt the Ghouls’ maskless faces nuzzling against his cheeks, often pecking at them before they made out with one another. Their hands worked on their cassocks, eager to get rid of them and feel each other’s body. Special watched them, still unsure if he was doing the right thing. Omega removed Special’s mask and brushed his lips against the elder Ghoul’s while Alpha ran his hands all over his torso, starting to undo his cassock as well.

Special was on the verge of surrendering to their touch when he felt one of Alpha’s fingers brush against one of the ropes restraining his wings. The elder Ghoul felt his heart skipping a beat and pushed them away, quickly fixing his clothes and snatching his mask from Omega’s hand. It was all a mistake, he should have been driving instead of listening to them. He rushed towards his bunk bed, shut the privacy curtains and lied down on the mattress, still clinging to his cassock. He didn’t want anyone to see him exposed like that, he didn’t want anyone to make fun of his deformity. The wisest choice he would have to make is to keep focused on his duties and completely ignore the band Ghouls from now on.

 

A call from Sister Imperator was the last thing Special expected that morning. The last tour was coming to an end and she must have wanted him to report the general status. But the elder Ghoul didn’t have much good news for her. Despite getting new followers and the interviews resulting in a lot more of exposure and success, Special confessed that Water and Earth’s mask removal issues were starting to bring up consequences and that the Second Emeritus was slacking off on his duties.

“What do you mean by ‘slacking off’, Ghoul?”

“He hasn’t overthrown any government, destroyed any church and he dedicates too much time on his… carnal pleasures”

He couldn’t help but feel anxious about reporting that to Imperator, he wasn’t comfortable when talking to her either. When she demanded further explanation again, Special couldn’t hold back: his voice broke as he explained how the Second had him to deal with his dirty work, stressed him to the point he can barely sleep or take some time for himself and how he made him feel guilty for interacting with the rest of the Ghouls.

“I’ve never felt so alone, Sister… I’ve never wanted to give up so much” the elder Ghoul tried to choke back a sob but failed and he began crying over the phone. He never allowed himself to break in front of Imperator, but he couldn’t take it anymore. He could sense that she was disappointed on him too. He was a failure.

“Please, calm down” her voice didn’t seem angry, in fact, it lacked her usual stern tone, “It’s alright, Special, I understand”.

 _Special_. It was the first time he ever heard her call him that. Papa Nihil must have told her about his feelings while working under the Second Emeritus. She kept trying to soothe him with her words. She knew how he felt: she too had suffered a lot of pressure back when she was younger, when she had to juggle her research about Ghouls and preparing the new Papa-to-be.

“Can Papa get on the phone? I’m going to demand a few explanations” she inquired. She had gone back to her usual serious self.

“He’s… not here, Sister” Special replied, wiping away his tears with his sleeve, “He was invited to a fan’s hotel room again. He’s been doing that since his first ritual”.

Imperator sighed and asked him to tell the Second to phone her as soon as possible so she could have a word with him. The elder Ghoul nodded and hung up, soon realizing that the anxiety was slowly dissipating. He felt a lot better after letting everything off of his chest. It all pointed to the Second’s era coming to an end.

 

As soon as they got back to the Unholy Church grounds, Special snatched the keys from the archives and decided to focus on Imperator’s research for a while. With all the work the Second wanted him to do, he hadn’t had time for himself and now he needed it more than ever. Earth and Water’s health was getting worse day after day and it seemed that they wouldn’t make it. After picking one of the books, going back to his office and breezing through the pages he already read, he stopped at the ‘Vessel’ category.

“ _A ghoul can be created from any vessel, but the recommendation for beginners is a skeleton. However, their life span won’t be long, so it would be reasonable to switch their vessel to a whole human corpse_ ”.

 _Is that even possible?_ , Special asked himself. As he read further into the category, he learnt that ‘vessel-swapping’ wasn’t as hard as it seemed: the summoner only had to incorporate something from the past vessel to the new one, usually in form of bone dust. A knock on the door brought him to reality.

“Come in!”

The elder Ghoul was surprised to see Air standing by the doorframe. He was slightly slouching down and his teal eyes lacked the usual shine: he seemed depressed. Special rose from his seat and walked over to him to ask him what was going on. Unexpectedly, the towering Ghoul replied.

“Earth and Water just died”.

It was inevitable. Special felt sad about the loss, but at the same time, he was irritated. Imperator gave them a solution to their health problems and it resulted in failure. He needed to speak with her as soon as possible, so he waved Air goodbye and stomped towards Papa Nihil’s office. Before his hand could turn the knob, the Second Emeritus opened the door and stormed out of the office into the hall, giving the elder Ghoul one last look of pure wrath. The higher-ups must have told him the news. But Special wasn’t there to be concerned about the Second, he had to give them the news about Earth and Water’s demise.

“Sister, I’m going to ask you to upgrade our vessels” he said, his eyes shining with confidence.

“Well, he’s right” Nihil intervened before Imperator could complain. “We’ve lost too many ghouls and we can’t take risks anymore. We have been preserving the sacrifice corpses just in case the day arrived, and now it’s here”.

Imperator sighed. Of course she could do that now, but the problem of the masks staying on their faces still prevailed. At least now they would be using actual bodies, not just skeletons, and they shouldn’t be as weak. She had a slight idea on how she should deal with the situation, but it wouldn’t be easy.

“We’ll speak about this later” she turned to the elder Emeritus, “Would you mind coming with me, Papa?”

The higher-ups left Special behind, who quickly ran back to the archives. He spotted the band Ghouls standing outside the infirmary, Alpha trying his best to console Air, but avoided eye contact with them. As soon as he gathered the books and folders he needed, he headed back to his office. To his surprise, the door was unlocked. The Second Emeritus was sitting on his chair, getting up as soon as the Ghoul walked through the frame and cornered him.

“They are making me abdicate. My younger brother will take over and it’s all your fault” he gritted his teeth, “Why did you have to tell her!?”

Special felt his heart race against his chest from fear, like every time he tried to talk him up, but there was something different this time. The Second wasn’t in charge anymore. He could speak up for himself now.

“She was going to notice sooner or later!” the elder Ghoul snarled “You weren’t tending to your duties as the leader of the Ghost project, delegated all of your dirty work to me while you drank like a sailor and fucked around. Two of your Ghouls have just died, did you know which ones? Of course, you don’t! You couldn’t care less about them, could you?”

The Second Emeritus stepped back and took a seat on the couch, pensive.

“Earth and Water, right?” he asked, his mismatched eyes peeking from over his sunglasses, “Look, I don’t know about taking care of Ghouls as much as you. If they are unwell, I don’t know what to do. As much as I would like to help, I can’t”.

The elder Ghoul relaxed his shoulders, touched. _Maybe he wasn’t a cold-hearted asshole, deep down. Maybe he had a soft spot. Maybe…_ The Second rose from his seat and landed a punch against Special’s skull, knocking him out.

“While I care about my Ghouls, I don’t give a rat’s ass about a snitch like you”.

Special passed out for hours. He remembers seeing the three remaining band Ghouls walking into his office and surrounding him, but nothing else. He felt cold all of a sudden. For a moment, he thought he wasn’t going to make it.

 

Imperator had asked Nihil to go to the Summoning Room and open the door to where the preserved bodies were and count them while she had some business to attend to. She rushed up to her bedroom chamber, opened one of her cabinets and picked a large hand bell. _I hope it still works, it’s been a while_ , she whispered to herself. When she joined Nihil in the Summoning Room, she drew a different summoning circle on the altar and surrounded it with charcoal, a few pieces of iron and sulfur.

“Do you have the solution to the mask problem, Sister?” Nihil asked, dragging the corpses out of the preservation room.

“I do” she approached him and helped him carry them out. They were both old, but they still had some strength in them, “I just hope I still remember the formula”

Both higher-ups walked back to the altar and Imperator took one last step to the front, holding up the hand bell and rang three times. While she studied Ghouls, she learnt that only the ‘servant’ type Ghouls, the ones she summoned for Church duties, needed a vessel and a blood oath with their master. Another type of Ghouls, the so-called ‘dealers’ needed to be summoned with an artifact, usually something that produced a sound. ‘Dealer’ Ghouls couldn’t speak human languages, and usually had to be paid the right price —usually a human soul— for them to offer their services in exchange.

Imperator’s call earned no response, so she rang the hand bell another three times. A few seconds later, a faint bell could be heard ringing three times. The sulfur and the charcoal in the circle were set ablaze and the room was soon covered in thick, black clouds of smoke. Standing on the circle, there was a large, bulky Ghoul wearing nothing but an iron demon mask, leather overalls with the Fire alchemical symbol and wielded a large blacksmith hammer.

 

 

“Hello, Hurik” Imperator greeted him, waving her hands to get his attention, “You look just fine”.

Nihil stood there in shock. He had no idea Imperator was able to summon a ‘dealer’ Ghoul and he soon found himself trying to figure out whose soul she had to sell to get that. Was it her own? No, it didn’t look like it.

“Look, I’m going to summon more servants” her hands pointed at the corpses and the altar, then she circled her face with her index finger before tracing a cross over it and then pretend to slice her own throat with it, “The masks were a good idea, but they keep taking them off and dying”.

Hurik nodded to let her know he understood.

“I need new masks” Imperator circled her face again and pressed both her palms against it. “And I want you to weld them to the vessels’ faces, did you understand?”

The blacksmith imitated her gesture, as if asking her if she wanted the masks to be like his. Imperator nodded back.

“But… if the mask is like his and is welded to the vessel’s face, how can we get access to their mouths easily?” Nihil asked, still unsure about what was going on, “The vet needs it for their medical checkings and to remove swallowed objects”.

“Don’t worry, Papa. I have it covered” Imperator turned to Hurik again and pointed to her own mouth, as if asking where did he hide his.

Hurik pressed the edges of his own mask and detached the jaw piece, showing his mouth with two rows of pointy, yellow teeth for a few seconds before putting it back on. He then dragged his feet towards the bodies to count them: they were eight in total, so he would have to forge eight masks like his own. The blacksmith turned to Imperator and held up eight fingers to confirm the number and then, he held only three.

“Three? Three what?” Nihil asked the Sister, still pretty confused.

“It’s the amount of time he takes to forge my requests. It can be three hours, up to three days or weeks”.

“We don’t have much time, Sister”.

“Then, let’s get rid of the skeletons in the meantime. I need to crush them to bone dust and put them inside the new vessels’ mouths” she suggested. “I won’t bother with Earth and Water, I’ll summon new ones”.

When he saw both humans discussing their things, Hurik picked up the corpses and dragged them to the altar before disappearing back to his workshop in Hell. When the higher-ups walked in the infirmary, they weren’t expecting to see Special in there. He was laying on a bed with his head bandaged and he didn’t think twice before telling them what happened with the Second back in his office. It didn’t matter now.

“Special, we are going to swap all of your vessels as you requested” Imperator announced, “Bad news is, you’re probably going to be resummoned as kits”.

“I don’t mind, our kithood only lasts a few weeks” Special sat up and pulled a medical cart closer to him, “I have one final request, Sister: I want to be the first to be resummoned. I’m willing to take the risk if something goes wrong”.

Nihil was about to object, but Imperator stopped him. Special will always be the Firstborn, after all, it was only fair he offered to live up for his title as much as he hated it. She saw him reach for a scalpel from the cart and bring it close to his chest.

“I will probably forget everything about this era like Water did, but I’ve read that there is a way to get some of the memories back” the elder Ghoul mentioned before stabbing himself with it, “Just say my name and I will manage”.

Black blood began pouring over the bed undersheet as Special faded away, only leaving his skeleton back and it was a matter of time that they got it reduced to bone dust. Nihil couldn’t help but feel sadness pooling down in his chest. Special was his Ghoul, the one he raised like if he was one of his three sons, and seeing him gone was devastating. He silently prayed to the Dark Lord for Imperator to get it right.

When they went back to the Summoning Room, Hurik already delivered the corpses with their welded masks and left. It took him three hours, it was a perfect timing. Imperator drew the previous summoning circle, dragged the new vessel in it and filled its mouth with Special’s bone dust. She then moved to the desk to pick up the knife she used the last time and sliced the elder Emeritus’ palm open, letting his blood fall in the new vessel’s mouth and mix up with the bone dust. Once they were in a safe distance, they began chanting the same formula they used the last time until red fog, as well as fire and brimstone filled up the room.

When the altar was safe to be approached, Nihil wanted to be the first to look at the kit. It looked like a two-year-old human, the mask was almost childlike —Hurik must have made it in order to reshape itself as the Ghoul grew up—, was covered in bloody cuts and it cried from the pain, but he had a pair of wings and a heart-shaped tail. Imperator’s eyes widened in surprise as the elder Emeritus picked the little Ghoul up and held it against his chest, rocking it gently.

“You are my Special, are you?” his milky white eyes stared down at him, his lips curling up to a smile, “I promise I will do it better this time. I will never let anything bad happen to you again”.

The cries soon stopped and the kit opened his eyes. They were more human-like this time, but they sported mint green irises. Under the mask, Special’s lips curled to a smile as he recognized the familiar voice, the familiar warmth. He was back home.

**Author's Note:**

> All the drawings are made by me and reposting is forbidden. They were made exclusively for this story.


End file.
